Beyond Borders: Irregular Migration from Africa and the Global Crisis
On 10 July 2023, a fishing boat carrying more than 100 young West African men left Senegal, bound for Europe.
One month later, only 38 had survived. The others died at sea – unaccounted for, unnamed and unacknowledged by the systems that failed them.
This tragedy is not an isolated event.
It is part of a recurring and intensifying pattern of irregular migration.
Every year, tens of thousands of young Africans undertake treacherous journeys across the Sahara Desert, through Libya and over the Mediterranean Sea.
These journeys are marked by exploitation, abuse and profound risk.
While international policymakers continue to debate solutions, a fundamental question remains unanswered: Why do so many young people choose to leave their countries of birth?
The standard responses – poverty, limited education, and misinformation – fall short of explaining the complexity of these decisions.
Drawing from qualitative research conducted with irregular migrants from The Gambia and Cameroon now living in Germany, my findings suggest that irregular migration is not solely a flight from hardship.
Rather, it is a calculated and often necessary response to entrenched inequality, systemic failure and the enduring desire for dignity, mobility, and opportunity.
STRUCTURAL FAILURES, HISTORICAL CONTINUITIES
Irregular migration cannot be understood in isolation from the broader context of governance – both in Africa and in Europe.
Across the African continent, young people are often marginalised from political participation.
They face limited employment prospects, underfunded education systems and governance structures that lack transparency and accountability.
In response, European governments have largely adopted restrictive policies.
Since 2015, the European Union has externalised border controls through funding detention centres in Libya, reinforcing security forces in the Sahel, and negotiating repatriation agreements.
Though framed as humanitarian measures, these initiatives often produce human rights violations and encourage riskier migration routes.
This policy architecture reflects a continuity with colonial and postcolonial dynamics.
The global migration system, as it stands, perpetuates a history of extraction and inequality – where mobility is reserved for the privileged and criminalised for the marginalised.
Migration then becomes both an act of survival and a form of resistance against systems that deny young Africans access to a viable future.
STRATEGY, NOT DESPERATION
Irregular migrants are often depicted as desperate or deceived.
In reality, their choices often reflect strategy and resilience.
Ruben, a young Gambian man I interviewed, described feeling intense family pressure to migrate.
Stories of success from peers abroad made staying home feel like failure. He migrated knowing the risks.
Sanama, a Cameroonian woman, travelled on a falsified sports visa.
Despite her education, she faced no realistic pathway for legal migration. In Europe, her undocumented status left her vulnerable.
These stories reflect agency within constraint. Migrants navigate systems that deny them formal mobility, yet they persist in seeking a better future.
REFRAMING THE DEBATE
The prevailing question in migration policy – “How can we stop them?” –fundamentally misrepresents the nature of irregular migration.
A more constructive question would be: “What are these migration patterns revealing about our global systems, and what can we learn from those undertaking these journeys?”
Irregular migrants offer vital insight into systemic breakdowns and human resilience.
Their stories reflect how individuals respond when faced with unliveable conditions and unresponsive governance.
By adopting a narrative and practice-based approach to migration research, we can better understand migration as an ongoing social process, shaped not only by structural factors but also by emotional drivers such as hope, shame, and ambition.
Therefore, irregular migration from Africa is not just a regional issue – it is a global one.
It reflects structural injustice and the unequal distribution of opportunity.
– George Shan holds a master’s degree in sociology. He is a researcher into migration.
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